To Bentley, a new SUV means an increase in sales potential and the use of VW’s MSB architecture which will support the new Continental GT and the Speed 6 sports car, which is easily adaptable to the format.
Company chairman and CEO, Wolfgang Dürheimer has shown his inclination towards the SUV market. He feels that the market is "expanding three times faster than the market as a whole".
Previous predictions for the full-size Bentayga, indicated annual sales of 3000 which according to Dürheimer appeared to be conservative. Dürheimer is working at building 20,000 cars a year at its factory in Crewe by 2020. Bentley is ready to spend 280 million pounds on building a new R&D centre, to reach its production targets.
Bentley’s engineering chief, Rolf Frech, stated that the decision to bring out a new SUV isn't final, and even if it were, it might result “in a different kind of car”. From his statement it appears that a crossover SUV in a similar vein to the BMW X6, could be a possibility.